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| Foreign Influence and Security Clearances |
by William Henderson for ClearanceJobs.com - September 5, 2008
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AFFECTED PERSONS
The “Foreign Influence” criterion under the “Adjudicative Guidelines for Determining Eligibility for Access to Classified Information” affects many security clearance applicants, particularly those who are naturalized U.S. citizens or whose parents immigrated to the U.S. Others who marry (or reside with) a foreign national, who have foreign financial/business interests, or who maintain close and continuing contact with foreigners are also affected. There are two other related criteria—Foreign Preference and Outside Activities—that sometimes affect these same applicants.*
SECURITY CONCERN
Foreign Influence has been a significant concern when considering people for security clearances. This has been due in part to changes in motivation of those who have chosen to spy against the U.S. A government study issued in March 2008 reported that since 1990 offenders who are naturalized citizens rose to 35%, those with relatives or close friends overseas increased to 58%, and those with foreign business or professional connections increased to 50%.
The Adjudicative Guidelines specify that “foreign contacts and interests may be a security concern if the individual has divided loyalties or foreign financial interests; may be manipulated or induced to help a foreign person, group, organization, or government in a way that is not in U.S. interests; or is vulnerable to pressure or coercion by any foreign interest.” The Adjudicative Guidelines further specify that “Adjudication . . . should consider the identity of the foreign country in which the foreign contact or financial interest is located, including but not limited to, such considerations as whether the foreign country is known to target United States citizens to obtain protected information and/or is associated with a risk of terrorism.” However the location of a person’s contacts or interest is not by itself a disqualifying condition.
EVALUATING FOREIGN INFLUENCE
The location, relationship, occupation, activities, and interests of the foreign person, as well as the recency, frequency and nature of the contact are all relevant. The security significance of these foreign contacts can be measure by the extent to which an applicant:
• Maintains contact with foreign friends, family members, or professional associates.
• Provides or receives material support to/from contacts outside the U.S.
• Returns to native country.
• Maintains property or financial interests (including inheritance rights) outside the U.S.
• Fails to report association with foreigners when required.
Foreign connections that “create a potential conflict of interest between the individual’s obligation to protect sensitive information and the individual’s desire to help a foreign person, group, government, or country by providing that information” are security concerns. Absent a potential for a conflict of interest, foreign connections must present a “heightened” risk of foreign influence to be a security concern. A heightened risk can be created either by the nature of the foreign contact and/or by the applicant’s perceived ability to resist foreign influence. In assessing an applicant’s ability to resist foreign influence adjudicators may consider the degree to which an applicant has assimilated American culture and displayed undivided loyalty to the United States by:
• Applying for U.S. citizenship as soon as they are eligible.
• Expressing their intention to live permanently in the U.S. even after retirement.
• Observing American holidays.
• Participating in local non-ethnic social, community, political, or charitable groups.
• Socializing with people outside their ethnic group.
Additionally, circumstances or behavior that could attract the attention of foreign intelligence are also potentially disqualifying factors.
INTERIM CLEARANCES
Interim clearances are problematic when any security issue exists. The existence of current foreign connections can create a presumption of foreign influence. Often this issue can be mitigated by the information collected during a security clearance investigation. But interim clearances require issue mitigation before the investigation is completed. The Questionnaire for National Security Positions (Standard Form 86 --SF86) asks about foreign activities, associates, financial interests, and travel. But the SF86 does not ask for information that might mitigate indicators of foreign influence. Applicants are allowed to include any mitigating information in their SF86 (or its electronic equivalent, known as eQIP) by using the “Continuation Space” at the end of the paper version or by using the “Comment Section” following each question on the eQIP version. Including mitigating information in this manner is often a determining factor in the granting of an interim clearance.
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY SECURITY CLEARANCES
For first- and second-generation immigrants, employment with the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) is often out of reach. This is because the disqualifying condition created by the existence of non-U.S. citizen immediate family members can not be mitigated for access eligibility to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) as it can for collateral clearances. And SCI access eligibility is almost always a requirement for IC employment. This obstacle can only be overcome with a “waiver” from a Senior Official of the Intelligence Community. This risk avoidance policy within the IC may soon change due to the critical need for people with special knowledge of foreign languages and cultures. For more than a year the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has repeatedly stressed the need to break down the IC security clearance and employment barriers for first- and second-generation immigrants. In testimony before congress on security clearance reform in February 2008 the Assistant Deputy DNI for Security stated:
“Additionally modifications to IC hiring policies are being made to allow for the hiring of first and second generation, or heritage, American candidates. . . . We fully expect the near-term outcome of this DNI-level policy change to result in more applications from heritage Americans and ultimately a more robust mission capability within the IC.”
The DNI has had the authority to change policy for SCI access throughout the IC. But institutional changes take time and are not often attainable by fiat alone. Recently Executive Order 13467, as part of a major clearance reform effort, expanded the DNI’s authority to change the standards for all federal security clearances. This reform effort may provide the impetus needed to change the security standards for foreign influence.
*This article does not cover the “Foreign Preference” and “Outside Activities” criteria in the Adjudicative Guidelines.
Copyright © 2008 Last Post Publishing. All rights reserved. William H. Henderson is a retired security investigator, author of Security Clearance Manual, and regular contributor to ClearanceJobsBlog.com and ClearanceJobs.com.
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| J Johnson (Beijing) |
on 15 Oct 2009 at 9:37 am |
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| I have lived in Japan for three years and in China for just over one year. My best friend for the past six years is a naturalized multi-citizen of the US/UK/Taiwan (born in Hong Kong) living in London. My partner (unmarried), who I share an apartment with, is a Chinese national (and, unfortunately, a member of the communist party and an employee of a state-owned enterprise). I am applying to work as a Foreign Service Officer with the State Dept. which requires a Top Secret clearance. Do I even have a chance of being granted a clearance with my situation? |
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| Bill L. (Annapolis, MD) |
on 15 Oct 2009 at 9:02 am |
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Confused,
You raise several questions that should be addressed. First, you should NOT be denied interim/final clearance eligibility based solely on your ethnic background. You could be denied an interim eligibility based on the adjudicative guidelines regarding frequent travel to a foreign country and a close relative who recently worked for a foreign government. These issues require investigation. Agencies differ in how they process interim determinations. Some agencies will review an individual’s SF 86/eQIP and discuss these issues, and any others that surface, prior to making the interim determination. Some agencies will deny the interim and pass the form to OPM/investigators to look into the issues. Some agencies will take into consideration what skills you bring to the organization. Your sister’s clearance will have no effect on your application as you are different people working for different agencies. The bottom line is that the national security is the paramount determinant in eligibility determinations. If an agency has any doubt on any issue that can not be cleared up easily, they will deny the interim. Good luck. |
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| Bill L. (Annapolis, MD) |
on 15 Oct 2009 at 8:43 am |
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Scared (Ny)
Your situation could be a caused for concern for employers and security personnel. Some of the factors in your situation include how close the contact is (living together, sharing bank accounts, etc); the country of origin of the other person; and the occupation of the other person. For example, dating a citizen of Sweden who sells Volvos would probably not be a significant problem. However, cohabitating with a citizen of North Korea who works at the North Korean section at the U.N. would be looked at more thoroughly. Investigators and adjudicators will be looking at all of these factors during the investigation and adjudication processes. |
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| scared (Ny) |
on 21 Sep 2009 at 10:08 pm |
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Hi,
I am applying for jobs that require a security clearance. I have had a serious relationship with a man who has lived in the US for 8 years on a work visa, and have had intimate relationships with other foreigners one of whom I am still in contact with. Will this hurt my chances for a security clearance. |
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| confused |
on 18 Sep 2009 at 1:58 am |
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I am born and raised in America but my background is from Bangladesh. My mother is a naturalized citizen. Everyone else in my family was born in the US. I have many relatives in Bangladesh who I visit often (especially recently since my Grandma had a stroke). Many of them have Greencards and visit the US yearly too.
My main concern is that my grandma's first cousin, who is close to our family, was the Temporary LameDuck Caretaker for the Bangladesh Government not too long ago. He currently resides in the States now.
I am trying to get an interim clearance so I am worried that I will be denied (meaning I will lose the job too) because they will want to do more investigation.
My sister however is in the FBI with a TS Clearance. We have all the same relatives and foreign ties, and as she was granted the highest level of clearance, it proves that our family's ties are not a security concern in the least bit.
Would they be able to reference my sister's clearance and grant me mine? Is that allowed?
Because this job is contingent upon the interim, I think it would be unfair to deny someone just because they need more time to investigate because of their parent's ethnic background.
Is it possible to grant an interim clearance and then do investigation on it afterwards, seeing if the chances of danger are slim? Or are they super careful on this issue so that they wouldn't even think to grant an interim without fully investigating first. |
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| Bonnie (Virginia) |
on 19 Mar 2009 at 12:49 pm |
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| I am a recent college grad and I am trying to get a federal job. My husband is a naturalized U.S. citizen but his parents only have resident status. Will this cause my security clearance to be rejected? Also, if he wanted to get a federal job would he be able to? |
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| First Generation (NJ) |
on 09 Jan 2009 at 11:25 am |
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As quoted in the article:
For first- and second-generation immigrants, employment with the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) is often out of reach.
I am a first generation Chinese American, who came to the US at the age of 3. I was naturalized when my parents were naturalized in 1971. An aspect of Chinese immigration in the US that many Americans are not aware of is that the immigration pattern has the male arrive to the US first, and then send for their families when he's established. Also, the Chinese were the only ethnic group that were legally barred from entering the US and to become US citizens. This law was finally struck from legislature in 1948.
My great grand father arrived in the US in the 1910's, then he sent for my grand father who arrived in the 1940's. My grand father served in the US Army during WW 2 (along with numerous cousins). After his service, he sent for his wife (my grand mother and his son, my uncle). My uncle served in the US Army during Vietnam, and has worked in the US Post Office his entire career. He has been and still is an officer with his local American Legion.
With this family background, I feel that I am as American as any other ethnic group. I came here when I was 3, and have known no other country but the United States. I have applied to the CIA and FBI, and was dropped (after going through the process, i.e., interviews, psych, medical, polygraph) due to security concerns because I have one Aunt and Cousin (in Hong Kong, a US friendly territory). This doesn't seem fair. I would like to know anyone's opinion. |
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| Robert C Posey (Brightwood Virginia) |
on 31 Oct 2008 at 8:40 am |
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| Well, I was one that had a clearance, lets say it was high but that has changed. I became involved with a foriegn national. She was and still is in my heart. Yes we fell in love and following procedures with aproval I went to vist her. On my return Ii was told to stop all contact. I did as I was told. My clearance was down graded and now fourteen months later retiring I made contact once again. She was waiting and we were to be married. I found myself in a position that I had to get back in the work force but it looks impossible. No one wants to deal with it and even if I broke off our engagement it wouldn't matter. There are a lot of details that have been omitted but you get the picture. Matters of the heart are best kept out of the IC. The regulations are tough and for the time slow to change. Some way I must make our dreams come true. Thanks for the hear. |
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| William Henderson |
on 28 Oct 2008 at 11:16 am |
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As forcasted in this article, the SCI eligibility requirement that disqualified anyone with non-US citizen immediate family members was eliminated on 1 October 2008 when the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) issued Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) Number 704, “Personnel Security Standards And Procedures Governing Eligibility For Access To Sensitive Compartmented Information And Other Controlled Access Program Information.” ICD 704 rescinds DCID 6/4.
For over 18 months, DNI Mike McConnell has promised to break down the barriers to employment in the intelligence community faced by first- and second-generation immigrants. ICD 704 fulfills that promise by removing the SCI eligibility requirement that an applicant’s immediate family members be US citizens. |
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| Steve (DC) |
on 24 Sep 2008 at 8:50 pm |
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| I had a neighbor who attended the USAF Academy, served for 6 years as an officer in the USAF...then had trouble getting clearance for DHS work as his grand father was English! |
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| Lisa Lakotich (Germany Ramstein Air Base) |
on 19 Sep 2008 at 9:33 am |
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I applaud the efforts of the United States making sure that people who work within the IC community are of no threat to international security issues. Remembering the issues of documents being stolen between the FBI and the CIA back in 1986-87, those people were trusted and sold their trust to other countries to help them get out of debt. Also, I feel that the U.S government should look at the situation in Germany; it’s extremely hard for spouses to gain employment over here because of the SOFA Agreement between the U.S and Germany. The U.S. has to keep a certain amount of local nationals employed in order for our bases to remain here, and these German Nationals hold very important jobs, which gives them access to the government portal. Of course the nationals are not allowed to work Intel jobs, but who's to say that they aren't compiling information through the government portals or even hacking into them to get Intel information? A desperate person will do what it takes to get what they want. So while the Americans are jobless and their economy is falling, the German economy is boosting.
I feel that the government should not allow people who have married people outside their country to obtain jobs in the IC, if this is the way it should be then they need to look at all the people in the military that go overseas and come back with wives from other countries who have clearances to Intel information. It would shock you if you seen how much American money is being spent in other countries while our government watches the rest of us suffer. |
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| Roland (Virginia) |
on 18 Sep 2008 at 8:49 am |
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My 2 cents: I am an immigrant and feel that my patriotism for the United States is probably more mature than that of many born Americans because I made the conscious decision to become a citizen of this country rather than getting born into it.
Granted, there are probably many people who don't share my sentiment and become citizens for economic reasons. I just didn't want my kind to be dismissed in this discussion.
I do however agree with Mr. Spindler: the only real hurdle of naturalizing here is the paper work (which can be painstaking).
Lastly, I want to say that I do not believe in dual citizenship which is a supported concept by several foreign countries, just not the U.S.A. It takes away from one's credibility and genuineness. |
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| John Patu (California ) |
on 15 Sep 2008 at 1:02 pm |
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We should all be grateful; and I do agree that most of us, Americans are jobless right now. My point is that if you reach a certain level of clearance, you should be trusted and if you still have family overseas; this does not mean that you will be disloyal to the country you consider yours, especially if you came at a young age.
If your salary is base on your clearance level and not on you experience or credentials, then there is something wrong with the system and it is not fair for the American’s that were not born in the US because they had nothing to do with it. I believe in the U.S. Constitution and everyone should be given a chance until proven otherwise. |
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| Max Spindler (Alexandria) |
on 11 Sep 2008 at 2:17 am |
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| I doubt that an American immigrating to my native country of Switzerland would ever qualify for a security clearance. It would take them 12 years just to become a citizen there. I doubt that there are many countries as trusting as the U.S. is of its immigrants. |
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| Francis Hall (Daly City, California) |
on 10 Sep 2008 at 12:20 pm |
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| Speaking as a first generation immigrant the U.S. is my only country, but the numbers regarding the divided loyalty question does not lie. This is a fact of life. I just have to accept the fact that I will not get the highest level clearance and do the best I can for my adopted country. I am thankful for all I have been blessed with here. |
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